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In This Issue FFCO at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, November 4 - 13, 2022 Food & Nutrition Forum at the RAWF, November 9, 2022 Annual Harvest Gala, November 17, 2022 Highlights from Breakfast from The Farm, Milton Fairgrounds Celebrating Ontario Agriculture Week Recap on Source Local Food Fest events National Farm & Food Care farm tour, October 24, 2022 Show us your Dirty Work for The Real Dirt on Farming Bite of Brant wins 2022 June Callwood Outstanding Volunteerism Award for Ontario Tenth anniversary survey Become a member

FFCO at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Farm & Food Care Ontario (FFCO) will be partnering with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (RAWF) from November 4th-13th, 2022. Join FFCO and OFA in their shared exhibit in the Education Zone at the RAWF and experience Farm Food 360 Virtual Tours and our Ask-A-Farmer Booth! Drop by to say hi, ask questions or even lend your expertise about your sector.

Food & Nutrition Forum at the RAWF FFCO is again partnering with the RAWF to host the Food & Nutrition Forum on Wednesday, November 9. Annually, the RAWF event attracts Professional Home Economists, Registered Dietitians, dietetic instructors, nutritionists, chefs, culinary instructors and other food and health professionals. New this year, the event includes a tour of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, giving participant the opportunity to meet farmers and food producers working on the grounds. The two keynote presentations include: Doug Cook, RD (www.dougcookrd.com) Feed your brain and mind: Nutrition and mental well being. Nutrition is crucial for brain health. In this presentation, you’ll learn about the foundational nutrients needed for optimal mental well-being and the contribution that nutrient-dense foods have. Doug is an experienced speaker, facilitator and educator, whose passion is communicating with a variety of audiences from other health professionals to the public. Chef Tawnya Brant (www.cheftawynabrant.com) Reviving Indigenous North American and Haudenosaunee food culture. Chef Tawyna has always had a passion for food and cooking, securing her first job at a local diner at the age of 12 in Ontario’s Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She gained more experience opening small shops and franchise restaurants throughout Southern Ontario, Western New York and Manitoulin Island, eventually attending Mohawk College’s Aboriginal Small Business Management program. Currently, Tawnya is the chef and owner of YawékonFoods, a restaurant in Ohsweken that provides Haudenosaunee fusion cuisine. Thanks to the support of partners, including Think Beef.ca, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Mushrooms Canada, and Canadian Food Focus.

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Get tickets for Annual Harvest Gala, November 17th Join us for the party of the year! The Denim & Diamonds-themed fundraiser will be held at the Delta Hotel in Guelph on Thursday, November 17th The night will include: Cocktail hour and entertainment Taste of Ontario dinner Network and catch-up with those across Ontario agriculture Auction of exciting Ontario tourism experiences Presentation of the Paul Mistele Award for excellence by farmers in support of Ontario’s food banks Recognition of a number of agricultural champions Tickets are on sale now at www.FarmFoodCareON.org

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Breakfast from the Farm: October 8th, Milton One thousand guests and 70 volunteers came out to Breakfast from the Farm at the Milton Fairgrounds on October 8th in celebration of Ontario Agriculture Week.   Guests enjoyed a walking tour of the Milton Fairgrounds seeing exhibits, displays, livestock and farm equipment. Volunteers shared their stories and experience farming in Ontario and answered guests' questions.

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Thank you for celebrating Ontario Agriculture Week 2022

For Ontario Agriculture Week this year, FFCO and other commodity organizations across Ontario shared their reasons why they choose to purchase Ontario grown produce and why they #LoveOntFood FFCO and AgScape joined together to host three Virtual Food & Farm Tours from different farms in Ontario. These included an apple orchard, a pumpkin farm, and a turkey farm. You can re-watch all tours on the FFCO web page here: https://www.farmfoodcareon.org/fieldtrips/

Source Local Food Fest This year, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and FFCO celebrated Ontario Agriculture Week with a series of food-focused events across the province as part of an initiative called Source Local. It’s a partnership launched late last year to raise the profile of locally grown food.  Four provincial activations were organized in Thunder Bay, London, Ottawa and Halton. Overall, approximately 1,500+ people attended the four events, where they enjoyed free meals of smash burgers, pierogis, beet burgers, falafels, chicken wraps, hard-boiled eggs, fresh vegetable skewers, pepperettes, mac ‘n cheese, kettle corn and tacos. They also had the opportunity to sample from commodity groups and talk to local farmers. Below is a small sample of the photos taken for social media during the events.

Thunder Bay - the Marina London - Dundas Square

Ottawa - Algonquin College Halton - Andrews Farm Market and Winery

FFCO welcomes PEI and SK sister groups for farm tour In a historic day for the organizations, staff from FFC PEI and FFC Saskatchewan joined the FFC Ontario team for a day of farm tours and team building in the GTA last week. FFCO's sister groups were in Ontario in advance of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity summit in Toronto.   Two farm stops were organized to give those from SK and PEI a greater understanding of two commodities not widely produced in those provinces. The first was at Piccioni Bros. Mushroom Farm in Dundas – an innovative third generation mushroom farm where Lorenzo Piccioni explained the process of how to grow mushrooms in a compost pack and how mushrooms only take 30 days to grow before they are harvested. This was then followed by a stop at nearby Beverly Greenhouses where the VanderHout family grows English cucumbers. Jan VanderHout explained that English cucumbers are grown on the vine and packaged in a facility on-site. All three organizations benefit from collaboration as they work towards the shared goal of telling agriculture's story in Canada. The day was a great way for the three teams to learn more about some of the commodities the organizations represent and, more importantly, to get to know each other better.

Piccioni Bros. mushroom farm Beverly Greenhouses

Award for Bite of Brant volunteers Bite of Brant Program volunteers, former winners of the Farm & Food Care Champion Award, have been recognized with a 2022 June Callwood Outstanding Volunteerism Award for Ontario. This prestigious award is presented by the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism.  Since this two day program was launched in 1996, over 22,000 Grade 5 students and teachers from Brantford, Brant County and Six Nations public, Catholic and private schools have gained an appreciation for local food production and healthy eating.  More than 125 volunteers - farmers, educators and agri-business representatives - plan, organize and present this annual program, using interactive, hands-on, outcome-based learning activities. For 26 years, dedicated Bite of Brant volunteers have shared their time, patience and expertise to present this valuable agriculture awareness program.

Bite of Brant volunteers attended the award ceremony in Toronto, seen here (L-R): Janet Licskai, Dorothy Donkers, Jean Emmott (Chair, Bite of Brant), and Parliamentary Assistant, Graham McGregor.

Share your memories of FFCO Take our two question survey and share with us your best memories of 10 years of FFCO. Memories will be shared at our 2022 Harvest Gala event on November 17th, 2022 in Guelph.

Take the survey here

Become a member or donor Did you know? Your $350+ membership gives you access to a $50 FFCO resource credit annually? Corporate members can access free training and workshops? Your support makes our work possible. Donations are eligible for charitable receipts.  Not a member yet? Learn why others have supported FFCO.

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